Amazon News: July 3, 2017

Amazon BOOST event in New York

Last Wednesday, Amazon hosted a meet-and-greet with merchants in New York City. 1,500 invitees networked with Amazon executives and learned how to best leverage the FBA program to grow sales and streamline operations. Amazon was also there to promote its Global Selling Program to sell to consumers outside of the United States, leveraging Amazon’s own fulfillment infrastructure.

Historically, Amazon hasn’t splashed out for anything that could be considered schmoozing for its profitable third-party merchants. A Bloomberg article and video asserts that Amazon is on a charm offensive, so perhaps we’ll see more of this in the future. Maybe Amazon wants to better appreciate how Third Party Sellers contribute 50% or more of product sales on the marketplace.

Prime Day was finally announced last week.

It’s the third year of Prime Day. So what’s new this year?

1. Prime Day will start at 6PM on Monday, July 10th, giving Prime members 30 hours to shop instead of 24 (as in the past years).

2. Amazon is extending Prime Day to China, India and Mexico. In total, there will be 14 markets participating: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium and Austria.

3. For five days leading up to Prime Day on July 11th, Prime members will find other exclusive promotions and deals, including music, video, Kindle, and Amazon Pantry deals.

4. New personalization features mean that deals will be organized by 20 or more popular themes, such as being a pet lover, gardener, techie, or artist.

5. Alexa-exclusive deals: Prime members will also have access to exclusive deals they can take advantage of if they own an Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Amazon Tap, compatible Fire TV, or compatible Fire tablet.

PS - Read our blog post about how to maximize Prime Day as a merchant!

Amazon goes into South Korea?

Lastly, Amazon is said to be preparing to launch in South Korea, advertising for positions in Seoul with job titles such as "Account Executive," "Amazon Global Selling," and "Seller Support Associate."

For my American members/ readers - Enjoy your Fourth of July!